The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to systems and methods for caching content that is communicated between information handling systems.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option is an information handling system (IHS). An IHS generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements may vary between different applications, IHSs may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in IHSs allow for IHSs to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, IHSs may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Some IHSs such as, for example, caching proxy server IHSs (“caching proxies”), are used to accelerate content requests by retrieving content saved from a previous request made by users. Caching proxies keep local copies of frequently requested resources, allowing large organizations to significantly reduce their upstream bandwidth usage and costs, while significantly increasing performance and saving time for users. For example, most large businesses and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have a caching proxy.
However, problems arise when administrators of caching proxies exercise control over the content that is cached, and in some jurisdictions (and depending on the political climate) the caching of politically sensitive material can be legally risky and yet impossible to control effectively. Furthermore, the liabilities and responsibilities for administrators of caching proxies such as ISPs are uncertain. Across jurisdictions the qualifications for, or existence of, common carrier status may be in doubt, and may vary according to circumstances. While the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) relinquishes system operators from copyright liability for purposes of caching, the DMCA does not cover all cases, is subject to change or reinterpretation, and does not apply in non-US jurisdictions.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved content caching system.